States look for means to fund roads

As the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee began taking action last week to rewrite Gov. Scott Walker’s 2015-17 budget proposal, there has yet to be any revenue proposal to partially replace the $1.3 billion in bonding for roads and bridges over the next two years.

In part, that’s because legislators are waiting for new state revenue estimates expected to be released on May 7. Legislators are also quietly mulling options to address the state’s well-documented transportation needs.

However, most of those options don’t come close to generating the kind of revenue that is needed in the Wisconsin transportation industry, according to the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association. Instead, the WTBA is advocating for what classifies raising the state’s gas tax for the first time in nine years.

Here are what other states have recently done to increase transportation funds:

Iowa: GOP Gov. Terry Branstad and the split Legislature in February increased the fuel tax by 10 cents a gallon.

South Dakota: GOP governor and GOP Legislature last month approved increases of 6 cents a gallon on fuel taxes and 20 percent on vehicle registration fees.

Utah: GOP governor and GOP Legislature last month increased the fuel tax by 5 cents a gallon and created a 12 percent tax on the wholesale price of fuel to replace the flat tax in the future.

Georgia: GOP Legislature has sent GOP governor the equivalent of a 7-cent a gallon gas tax increase and Gov. Nathan Deal has indicated he will sign it.